


We Rise by Lifting Others

by Eknomind



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Azerbaijan GP 2018, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Platonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-30
Updated: 2018-10-02
Packaged: 2019-04-30 06:20:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14490729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eknomind/pseuds/Eknomind
Summary: Lewis knows Valtteri deserved to win and wants to comfort him.





	1. Chapter 1

Lewis tried to focus on the grey and red blurs ahead of him while keeping another red blip in his mirrors. He glanced in his mirrors to check on Kimi and then suddenly Sebastian was next to Valtteri and braking too late. For one scary moment Lewis was sure they would crash but then Sebastian ended up running wide, letting Lewis and Kimi past. 1-2. That was a good result. Then suddenly on the straight Valtteri was slowing down. Suspecting some hazard, Lewis slowed down too and as the forces shaking his body steadied down and he could see that Valtteri’s tire had gone flat. Well, not flat. Exploded. Simply not there anymore. Feeling his heart break in millions of little pieces, Lewis overtook his teammate for the lead.

He had never expected to feel so bad about winning. Seeing Kimi and Sergio park on each side of him didn’t do much to lift his mood. They were just- Lewis shook his head to clear his thoughts. They weren’t Valtteri. Lewis had an inkling that Kimi might understand though. The Finn had often expressed feeling bad if Sebastian had a problem during the race, even going far enough to say that he preferred Sebastian beating him and both getting a podium than winning alone. Lewis had thought it was an act, that Kimi just said so to explain to himself why he hadn’t won in ages. Now, now Lewis understood. He would have preferred that second place if that meant the win Valtteri deserved. He looked around only to see David hanging around while officials tried to gather all three drivers together for what seemed to be an interview. Kimi and Checo seemed occupied with their celebrations though, the first smooching his wife and the latter hugging his team. Eventually the task was completed and Lewis sent his first thoughts out to Valtteri. He didn’t listen what Sergio had to say, but during his speech Kimi sneaked around to Lewis seemingly without anyone noticing.  
“Go talk to him, I’ll distract the guard dogs,” Kimi whispered and then he was gone and David wanted another word with utterly confused Lewis. Then it was Kimi’s turn and the Finn turned out to be surprisingly talkative. He gave a meaningful look to Lewis and then it clicked. Kimi was talking to get all cameras and attention on himself so that Lewis could go talk to- who exactly? Who had Kimi meant? There was only one person who Lewis wanted to talk at the moment. He turned away from Kimi and sneaked towards the paddock.

Lewis knocked on the door of the driver’s room  
There was no response. He knocked harder.  
“I know you are in there Val!”  
“Go away!” Came the response from the other side of the door.  
“No,” Lewis responded. He had NO intention to go away. “I am camping here if you don’t let me in.”  
“Toto sent you.” It wasn’t a question, it was an accusation.  
“Toto is spamming my phone about where I am,” Lewis responded and sent a screenshot of the messages to Valtteri. He heard some shuffling from the other side and then the door opened. He looked at Valtteri’s red face. His eyes were puffy too.  
“Then why are you here?” the Finn asked and Lewis gulped. He had to get this right, Valtteri looked ready to shut the door and never open it again.  
“Because you deserved to win.”  
Valtteri almost smiled. He stepped aside, letting Lewis in. Lewis allowed himself a moment to enjoy the cool air in the room. He remembered vaguely Valtteri saying something about the cool air reminding him of home. Lewis could relate to the cold but he didn’t particularly miss the weather he had grown up with. Then again Valtteri was from Finland where it wasn’t moist and miserable most of the time. Finland had proper weather, snow, sun, rain, everything. No wonder the guy was so resilient. But even Valtteri could get hurt, no matter how tough he was. And before Lewis was standing a broken man, man who had just seen his dream shatter to pieces. No. That wasn’t right. This was just one race. Valtteri had been better than Lewis this season and he would get up from this. Lewis gathered Valtteri in a tight hug, suffocating any protests.  
“It’s just one race. You will kick my ass in the next one just like you did today.”  
Valtteri just rested his head against Lewis’ shoulder.  
“30 points is nothing. One race and you are back in the game man.”  
Valtteri sniffed but managed to gather up a small smile. When they parted, Lewis could see some of the usual determination return to the Finn’s grey eyes.  
“I will hold you accountable for that,” Valtteri said and nudged Lewis towards the door. “It’s rude to keep people waiting.”  
Lewis sighed. He would have preferred to stay with Valtteri. Lewis turned to leave, but Valtteri had something more to say.  
“And, bring me some of that champagne. It’s mine after all.”  
Lewis laughed. “Don’t worry, I’ll save it for you.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “ _In Baku I remember when I got back to the hotel room I just collapsed on my knees and I was crying like a baby. I’d never done that before_ ”  
> -Valtteri Bottas to F1 Racing Magazine
> 
> This is that chapter. Blame Valtteri for the feels, he just can't stop being honest.

Valtteri leaned against the door after Lewis left for the podium ceremony, mentally preparing to go before the team. He would have to congratulate Lewis. And take their pitying looks and somehow hold himself together for hours until he’d be allowed to shatter to pieces. He couldn’t afford breaking now. Gathering the pieces would take longer than he had. Taking a deep breath he willed himself to hold in one piece and pushed away from the door, making his way to the small bathroom to get out of his sweaty race gear. 

Shower had helped a little. He felt a little more in control wearing his team clothing and sunglasses, answering questions as quickly as he could, hoping to end this terrible day already. For once other drivers let him be, no one really knew what to say. Maybe there was no words. Maybe nothing could make this better. 

Team celebrations had been awkward at best. Everyone had been so happy, celebrating Lewis’ win and then when Valtteri arrived the room had fallen silent. He had felt like he was about to drop dead any second or something with everyone staring. He had forced a smile on his face, painfully aware of how fake it was, congratulated Lewis and - it really shouldn’t have come as a surprise to him - the Brit embraced him tightly. Suddenly Valtteri wished he had brought the sunglasses here too.

He was absolutely exhausted when he finally got to his hotel, feeling empty and awfully full at the same time, his emotions tearing him apart as he stepped in the elevator while simultaneously there was that odd disconnect that had allowed him to hold himself together thus far. His brain didn’t even register the steps from the elevator to his room, his hands automatically fishing out the keycard and he stumbled inside the room, door banging close behind him. Valtteri tripped over his feet, collapsed on the floor, too tired to get up and the emotions took over, tears rolling down his cheeks, sobs shaking his body as he curled on the floor and cried like a baby for the first time in his adult life.

***

Lewis was sitting at a table with his engineers, mostly drinking quietly while they celebrated the win. He wasn’t really feeling it, but also hadn’t managed to come up with an acceptable excuse to leave the party. No one mentioned Valtteri’s absence and by the third beer Lewis seemed to be the only one bothered by it. He hadn’t seen the Finn since he had made his mandatory appearance in the garage. Lewis downed the rest of his beer and immediately a new one was pushed in front of him. Before he could ponder on the sense in drinking it, Toto had joined the table, a phone in hand.   
“Lewis, finally!” the Austrian yelled over the music, looking like he had spent a while looking for him, “it’s for you.” Toto pushed the phone in Lewis’ hand, not giving him a chance to ask any questions. Lewis sighed and took the call.

“Lewis.”  
“Thank god! I’ve been trying to contact you for ages!” said an agitated male voice Lewis knew from years ago.  
“Antti? Why are you calling me?” Lewis asked, wondering why on earth Toto wanted him to speak with his old physio.  
“I train Valtteri now, remember?,” Antti said, sounding desperate. “Look, I need you to come over, I-” he lowered his voice, “I came here to sort things out for the flight and I have never seen him like this. He doesn’t listen to me. Please, I don’t know what else to do.”  
Lewis stared into nothingness. Valtteri’s physio was calling him to sort out, what exactly? He sighed. He had wanted to get out of the so-called party anyway.  
“I’ll come man. I don’t know if I can do anything more, but I’ll help,” he promised. “Just tell me where.”

Lewis knocked on the hotel room door, awkwardly shifting weight from one foot to another, wishing he hadn’t downed that last beer. The time it took Antti to open the door felt like eternity. Without a word he was pulled inside and the door was closed behind him. Lewis found himself in a dark entryway leading to a hotel room.   
“What-” he started but Antti hushed him before speaking in a quiet voice.  
“I know you were out partying, but you went to him earlier and I didn’t know who else to ask. He’s just-,” Antti waved his hands helplessly, “go see for yourself.”  
Lewis treaded carefully into the room. First it was completely silent, but then he heard quiet sniffling. Assuming the source to be Valtteri, he tried to locate his teammate, but couldn’t see anyone in the dimly lit space. Confused, he looked at Antti who nodded towards the bed. Since no one was on it, Lewis went around and found Valtteri curled on the floor next to the bed, crying. 

Time seemed to freeze, Lewis felt his heart sink. A quiet “shit” escaped his lips as he stared at Valtteri, too stunned to do anything. He wasn’t sure he _could_ do anything. He wasn’t good at this. He wasn’t even good at relationships. He had messed up with his dad, with Nicole, with Nico. And now Valtteri needed him to succeed for once. Needed him to provide something Antti, someone Valtteri trusted with his life, couldn’t. Antti was a professional, but maybe that wasn’t who Valtteri needed. Maybe it wasn’t that complicated. He’d just need to go with his gut feeling, hoping it was still working in his slightly drunken state.

Lewis sat on the floor next to Valtteri, wanting to be on the same level with him.  
“Hey, what’s the matter?” he asked, knowing it was a silly thing to say. He knew what the matter was, but couldn’t think of anything else to say. He couldn’t really blame Valtteri for not responding, but the sniffling seemed to stop. Maybe Valtteri was shocked silent by the stupidity of Lewis’ question, but then again, maybe even that could be counted as an improvement.  
“Didn’t we go through this already?” Lewis continued when Valtteri stayed silent. “It’s one stupid race. You’re fast enough to beat me in the next one and the one after that. And then we have Canada. You are always so fast in Canada.” Lewis couldn’t help but smile at the thought of Valtteri’s good performances at the street circuit. Valtteri didn’t respond but Lewis could swear the other man had stopped crying and was listening, clinging to every word while trying to look like he wasn’t. Lewis settled laying on the floor next to his teammate and kept talking.  
“And aren’t you excited for France? Whole new track with no burden from earlier years! You’re going to shine there! And then Austria, damn the start you had there last year. That was sexy. Repeat that and you’ll be leading the championship in no time.”   
Valtteri’s body stiffened next to him and Lewis turned from his back to his side, facing the back of Valtteri’s head now.   
“So this is about the championship? You’re giving up after four rounds?”  
Valtteri deflated and that was worse than anything else that night. The Finn was curling in on himself again, shutting the world out, shutting Lewis out. Lewis extended his arms in a desperate attempt to stop what was happening. He grabbed Valtteri in a tight hug.  
“Shush now. I’m not letting you give up. Where’s your famous sisu?” he said, purposefully riling Valtteri up, trying to get him to fight again. “Are you Finnish or are you not?” Lewis knew Valtteri was listening, from the way the other man’s breathing was stilled, waiting for the next blow. Lewis had to force the next words out, it was mean, but had to be done. “Mika would be ashamed if he saw you now.”

And there it was, the spark he had been looking for. Valtteri elbowed Lewis’s stomach to escape the suffocating hug and scrambled away from his team mate, huffing, visibly offended and ready to fight.  
Lewis lifted himself into a sitting position and raised his arms in surrender.   
“Glad to have you back man,” he said, laughing softly at the offended look on Valtteri’s face. “I’ve had enough of this moping and so has Antti.”  
Valtteri blinked at him, confused, and Lewis nodded at the physio who was listening on the conversation from the entryway. Valtteri nodded thoughtfully and then laughed softly to himself, as if he had just remembered a joke someone told a while ago.  
“Weren’t you supposed to bring me champagne?”  
Lewis threw a pillow at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Too many ideas, too little time! Also this wasn't supposed to be a thing with chapters but then someone sent me that quote and this happened and I also found a draft from Hungary that would fit the title nicely so I guess it's a chaptered Valewis fic with all the feels now.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not saying this is how it happened but this is totally how it happened. Also there's nowhere near enough Lewtteri. They are like the new Simi except even better bc two lonely dorks finding each other? BEST.
> 
> I guess I'm kind of back? It's been a rough year or two.


End file.
